SPEED READINGSPEED READING

The Little Red Hen

60 words per minute

Once upon a time there was a hill, and on the hill there was a pretty little house. It had one little green door, and four little windows with green shutters, and in it there lived a rooster, a mouse, and a little red hen.

On another hill close by there

was another little house. It was

very ugly. It had a door that

wouldn’t shut, and two broken

windows, and all the paint was

off the shutters.

In this house lived a very bold bad fox and four bad little foxes.

One morning these four bad little

foxes came to the big bad fox,

and said: “Oh, father, we’re so

hungry!”

“We had nothing to eat

yesterday,” said one little fox.

“And scarcely anything the day

before,” said another.

“And only half a chicken the day

before that,” said the third.

“And only two ducks the day

before that” said the fourth.

The big bad fox shook his head

for a long time, for he was

thinking.

“On the hill over there I see a

house. And in that house there

lives a rooster.”

“And a hen and a mouse,”

screamed the little foxes.

“And they are nice and fat,”

said the big bad fox.

“This very day I will take my

sack, and I will go up that hill

and walk into that house and I will

put each of them into my sack.

You will no longer be hungry my

little ones,” said the big bad fox.

“Go quickly father. We will get

the fire ready to cook supper,”

said the little foxes.

So the four little foxes prepared

the fire and the big bad fox

grabbed his sack and headed to

the little house on the hill.

Now in the little house on the

hill everyone was waking up. The

rooster complained it was too hot.

The mouse grumbled that it was

too cold. They came down to the

kitchen, where the good little red

hen was bustling about.

“Who will get some sticks to

light the fire?” asked the little red

hen.

“Not me,” said the rooster.

“Not me,” said the mouse.

“Then I shall do it myself,” said

the little red hen.

So off she ran to get the sticks

and start the fire for breakfast.

“So who will fill the kettle to

make the tea?” she asked.

“Not me,” said the rooster.

“Not me,” said the mouse.

“Then I shall do it myself.”

Off she ran to fill the kettle to make the tea.

“Who will help to make the

breakfast?” she asked.

“Not me,” said the rooster.

“Not me,” said the mouse.

“Then I shall do it myself.”

The rooster and the mouse did

not help make breakfast. They did

not do the dishes or make the

beds. They did not sweep the

floor or weed the garden. The little

red hen had to do it all by

herself.

As the little red hen worked

away to keep the little house clean

and pretty the rooster and the

mouse took a nap.

Neither the rooster nor the mouse

got up to answer the door when

the fox came calling.

Now the bad fox had crept up

the hill and into the garden. If the

rooster and the mouse had been

awake they might have seen him

peeping in their window.

“Rat tat tat, rat tat tat,” the fox

knocked at the little green door.

“Who could that be?” asked the

little mouse. “Could it be the

mailman?”

“Go find out for yourself,” replied the rude rooster.

Without hesitation the mouse

lifted the latch and opened the door.

The fox sprang into the room.

“Oh, no!” squealed the mouse.

“Doodle doodle do,” screeched

the rooster.

But the fox only laughed as he

grabbed them and threw them into

the big sack.

The little red hen came running

when she heard all the noise. The

fox grabbed her by the neck and

crammed her into the sack with

the others. The fox threw the sack

over his shoulder and headed

down the hill toward home.

Stuffed together in the bag the

rooster apologized for being so

lazy. The little mouse cried with

fear and said he would try to be

a better friend if given another

chance.

“It is never too late to make

things right,” said the little red

hen. “I have my little sewing bag

here. You will soon see what I am

planning to do to the fox.”

The sun was hot and soon the

fox was tired of carrying the heavy

sack. He decided to take a little

rest. Before long he was sound

asleep.

The little red hen got out her

sewing bag and got right to work.

Out came the scissors and the

little hen cut a hole in the sack.

Out scampered the mouse.

“Go get a rock the same size

as you,” said the little red hen.

“Bring it back here.”

Out crawled the rooster.

“Go get a rock the same size as

you are and bring it back here,”

said the little red hen.

The mouse and the rooster

returned with their rocks.

The little red hen got a rock, too.

They each pushed their stone

into the sack then the little red

hen sewed the hole closed.

When she was done they ran

home as quickly as they could.

They bolted the doors and

windows and felt safe at last.

“Oh, dear,” yawned the fox as

he woke up and rubbed his eyes.

I have been asleep too long. I

must hurry home.”

The fox had to cross the river

on his way home. The sack was

very heavy and sank.

The fox tried to retrieve the sack

but the current was strong and he

was swept down river. He was

never seen again.

And the three friends? They

decided to work together to get

their jobs done.